I can't imagine it being March. I am quite skeptical even about April. Without so much as a release date on the record, the thought that the next full GTA game is two or even three months away seems like a stretch to me.

I dont see a March release date as very likely at this stage. Im betting late April or even May also.

I read a bunch of half arsed GTAV news stories yesterday (As i do mst days) and there are reports staing that "Industry Analysts" who ofcourse remain anonymous are predicting an imminent release date sometime this week. But these stories have been pretty 50/50 regarding accuracy so far. Bloody wild guesses masquerading as "news" at best.

Then again who knows what the hells going on with R* and Take Two lately. Most bizarre, fractured and schozophrenic game release in history so far.

I can't imagine it being March. I am quite skeptical even about April. Without so much as a release date on the record, the thought that the next full GTA game is two or even three months away seems like a stretch to me.

I agree. I feel like 2 months of serious marketing isn't enough for a game on par to have a HUGE impact on this year's titles. I would almost say May/June seems more likely. Still, the sooner the better, as long as it's 100% done

I can't imagine it being March. I am quite skeptical even about April. Without so much as a release date on the record, the thought that the next full GTA game is two or even three months away seems like a stretch to me.

I agree. I feel like 2 months of serious marketing isn't enough for a game on par to have a HUGE impact on this year's titles. I would almost say May/June seems more likely. Still, the sooner the better, as long as it's 100% done

I think Rockstar are trying to play down the hype this time and I can't blame them after GTA IV, I think Rockstar made a mistake with the 6 months running up to GTA IV as they got gamers too hyped for it. It wouldn't surprise me if all we get before release is one more trailer, a release date 2-3 months from now and a months worth of TV adverts and that's it. Rockstar need to trust their brand is big enough to sell itself without them lumping surmountable expectations on their title through excessive hype.

I think Rockstar are trying to play down the hype this time and I can't blame them after GTA IV, I think Rockstar made a mistake with the 6 months running up to GTA IV as they got gamers too hyped for it. It wouldn't surprise me if all we get before release is one more trailer, a release date 2-3 months from now and a months worth of TV adverts and that's it. Rockstar need to trust their brand is big enough to sell itself without them lumping surmountable expectations on their title through excessive hype.

I disagree. GTA IV was not the victim of being over-hyped, not even close. And the previous GTA games proved that. Vice City released on the cusp of GTA III's massive success, and it had a full six months of build-up and hype, and the only reason it didn't get even more hype was because Rockstar was able to churn it out on the GTA III engine, so it was a very quick release. San Andreas got a full year of incredible hype and it was the highest selling video game to that point in time, breaking all the records.

Your premise is that people were so excited and hyped about GTA IV that it was bound to fail, or rather, that was the reason so many were disappointed, but the reality is that no amount of hype or, for that matter, secrecy, would have changed ANYTHING with regard to GTA IV.

GTA IV, whether it was done intentionally or not, changed the paradigm of GTA from a wild, insane game of reckless abandon to a game steeped in realism and believability. This is what split the GTA fanbase, NOT some over-utilized propaganda machine. The fact is that GTA IV was hated for, in essence, the same reason it was loved, for its realism and restrictiveness. Many GTA fans loved the idea of having a GTA game that is tight, solid, without the tons of "cutesy" little glitches of GTA games in the past, and that has a very serious storyline which restricted the gameplay a great deal. But many GTA fans were expecting (and wanting!) a sequel to GTA that continued from San Andreas, not one that was so carefully crafted to be realistic.

Now before you object, I am not saying that realism is bad and "fakeism" is manna from heaven. The fact of the matter is that it is a personal choice and down to taste. But I can assure you that whether GTA IV had released after years of hype and propaganda OR Rockstar had not hyped it one bit and on the day before release day said, "Surprise! Hey, everyone, here is the new GTA game with no buildup!" the result would have been the same as we saw.

It is a mistake to assume that GTA fans, whether they loved IV or hated it, are that disconnected from what they want and love in their sandbox games.

tl;dr: GTA IV split the GTA community not because of any hype but because Rockstar went in a direction that some fans LOVE and some fans HATE.